After eco-rating was launched in France in 2008, it is now deployed in Spain and will roll out in the main European countries in 2010, starting with Switzerland in the first half of the year;
In France, every mobile in Orange shops will display a rating out of five reflecting its environmental performance;
The partnership with the WWF, in France and Spain, guarantees the independence and reliability of the rating method.

Rating criteria common to all Orange countries in Europe:
The eco-rating gives an overall grade to the handset showing its environmental performance in terms of five key indicators:
CO2 limitation measures the amount of greenhouse gas emitted during the product’s principal life stages: fabrication, transportation and use;
energy efficiency evaluates the energy consumed in using the product and what can be done to reduce it.
natural resource preservation rates the efforts to limit the proportion of materials that are non-renewable or sourced from environmentally, economic or socially sensitive resources.
recyclability rates the contribution of the handset, its packaging and documentation to reducing waste production.
limitation of hazardous substances rates the product’s chemical content which if improperly used or recycled could be a risk to human beings and their environment.

In Spain, Orange customers can now access this information for 75% of mobiles marketed by the brand, including all new models. Initially available on the www.orange.es website, it will soon be displayed in Orange shops and be included in product documentation.

 In France, environmental performance is now displayed in shops: each mobile’s label shows a rating out of five and, from January 2010, so will the labels of fixed-line handsets.
The eco-rating trial stage launched in October 2008 rates 91% of the mobile range. The website www.agir-reflexesverts.orange.fr , created to specially provide information and raise awareness of eco-friendly behaviours, registers up to 14,000 visits a day during promotional campaigns.

Orange confirms its commitment to envrionmental compliance
An operator rating the enironmental performance of handsets is a global innovation in the new technologies industry. Orange is the first operator to implement it in Europe.
The purpose of this inititative is to raise customers’ awareness of the environmental impact of their equipments and allow them to make responsible choices. Orange is also pushing suppliers to produce handsets with a low ecological footprint.